“Twisters” is taking over the box office.
The film, a standalone sequel to the 1996 disaster epic “Twister,” grossed a massive $80.5 million from 4,151 North American theaters in its debut. Over the weekend, the follow-up film was projected to generate between $50 million and $55 million. It is the third biggest opening weekend of the year, behind “Inside Out 2” ($154 million) and “Dune: Part Two” ($82 million) and ahead of “Godzilla x Kong” ($ 80 million). Directed by “Minari” filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung, “Twisters” stars Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell and Anthony Ramos as storm chasers who find themselves in the fight of their lives as multiple tornadoes converge over central Oklahoma.
Analysts believe that several factors contributed to the increase in initial ticket sales, the most important being that audiences simply enjoyed the film. It has an “A-” grade on CinemaScore. Nostalgia for the original blockbuster starring Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, Cary Elwes and Philip Seymour Hoffman, as well as the rising profitability of its stars Powell (of “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Anyone But You” fame) and Edgar-Jones (a favorite from the Hulu romantic drama “Normal People”), helped spark interest.
“It’s perfect summer entertainment,” says David A. Gross, who runs the film consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “This is essentially the same chaos we saw the first time, but it’s been 28 years and the spectacle, special effects and sets are bigger and better.”
“Twisters” cost $155 million to produce, not including the many millions invested in marketing. Universal Pictures backed the film and released it domestically, while Warner Bros. holds international rights.
Although “Twisters” easily reached number one on the national charts, comparisons to the same weekend in 2023 were difficult. That’s because this time last year, “Barbenheimer” fever was sweeping the country. However, after a slow start to the summer, the box office is finally picking up steam thanks to several tentpole hits like “Inside Out 2,” “Despicable Me 4” and “A Quiet Place: First Day.” Over the last month, the year-to-date deficit decreased from 21% to 17%, according to Comscore.
“A summer season that started inauspiciously with a string of less-than-stellar box office performances has been turbocharged with a string of hits,” says Paul Dergarabedian, senior analyst at Comscore. “[It has] fueled a resurgence in June and July and sparked a stunning turnaround for both studios and theaters.”
In second place, Universal and Illumination’s “Despicable Me 4” grossed $23 million from 4,112 locations in its third weekend of release. So far, the animated sequel has generated $259 million domestically. The franchise, which includes the popular “Minions” films, recently became the first animated series to surpass $5 billion at the global box office.
Disney Pixar’s sequel “Inside Out 2” came in third place with $12.7 million from 3,625 locations in its sixth weekend in theaters. The follow-up film is on track to surpass the $600 million mark in North America with ticket sales of $596 million. Globally, it is the second highest-grossing animated film in history, with $1.443 billion, and will soon surpass “Frozen 2” ($1.45 billion) to claim the top spot. “Inside Out 2” is also on track to surpass “Barbie” ($1.446 billion) as the 14th biggest film of all time.
Neon’s horror hit “Longlegs” came in fourth in North America, grossing a solid $11.7 million from 2,850 theaters in its second year. Revenues are down just 48% from its opening weekend, which is impressive for the horror genre. “Longlegs” has grossed $44.6 million to date.
Paramount’s “A Quiet Place: Day One” rounded out the top five with $6.1 million from 2,913 locations. After four weeks on the big screen, the mostly silent sci-fi thriller has grossed $127.6 million. By comparison, the franchise’s two previous installments, 2018’s “A Quiet Place” and 2021’s “A Quiet Place Part II,” grossed $188 million and $160 million domestically, respectively.
Elsewhere, “Fly Me to the Moon,” a $100 million-budgeted romantic comedy from Sony and Apple, failed to recover after its worrisome $11 million debut on Earth. Ticket sales plummeted 68% from last weekend, with $3 million at 3,356 theaters. The film, starring Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson as a NASA director and marketing expert who find themselves on the set of the Apollo 11 mission, has generated a paltry $16 million to date. It’s one of the biggest box office disasters of the year.
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